Nevada Politicians Dredge Up Old Ghosts

Capitol Riot Resolution Stirring in Carson City

Some folks just can’t let the dust settle on a road once ridden.

Here we are in the year of our Lord 2025, and yet Carson City’s decided to hitch up the wagons and head back—back—to the fateful winter of 2021. A time when a motley crew gathered at the U.S. Capitol like it was a saloon with no bouncer, all fired up over ballots and bluster.

Assemblyman Steve Yeager, with the determined air of a man swatting at bees long after the hive’s hauled away, is fixin’ to introduce Assembly Joint Resolution 14. The piece of paper not only condemns the January 6 affair—it takes a fresh jab at the old lion himself, President Donald J. Trump, for what it calls the “reckless use” of his pardon and commutation powers.

In plainer words, they don’t much cotton to him lettin’ some of those Capitol ruffians off the hook.

It’s worth noting that this ain’t exactly a new headline. January 6 was four years ago, a thousand Sundays gone in political time. Most folks have since returned to work, raised kids, planted gardens, and tried to forget the sight of grown men in fur hats bellowing in marble halls.

But not the Nevada Legislature. They’ve decided now’s the hour to shake the bones.

Mr. Yeager’s bringing in Harry Dunn, a former Capitol police officer, to testify. Dunn was there when the kerfuffle kicked off, and one imagines he’ll speak with the weary clarity of a man who’s seen too many angry faces up close, most of his making. The resolution already has 30 Democrats behind it, waving their support like handkerchiefs on a steamboat rail.

Should it pass, it’ll land square on the desk of Governor Joe Lombardo. Lombardo was the Clark County sheriff before he took over the Governor’s seat, and he’s been quieter than a church mouse on Trump’s pardons. Whether that’s out of caution, calculation, or plain disinterest is anybody’s guess.

Of course, there’s a bit of a clock ticking as bills must scoot out of committee or go the way of forgotten promises by April 11. So we’ll see whether AJR 14 makes it through the gates or dies of old age in the chamber.

But if you ask an old river rat, there’s more to governing than reliving yesterday’s headline. Folks want roads paved, schools funded, and prices that don’t make your eyes water at the store. If the Nevada Legislature keeps looking backward, they’re liable to trip over the present—and land face-first in the future.

Let the past be the past. The country’s already got enough ghosts without digging up fresh ones every spring.